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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging Canadians to have faith in the AstraZeneca vaccine amidst news of the death of a woman who developed blood clots after receiving a dose.
“Every single vaccine that is being used in Canada has been approved as safe by Health Canada and I have tremendous confidence in all vaccines, including AstraZeneca. I got the AstraZeneca shot myself last week, and didn’t even hesitate,” Mr. Trudeau told News 97.5 Radio in Halifax Wednesday morning.
“The risks of blood clots from getting COVID are much greater than the very, very rare, but real risks of side effects from AstraZeneca so it is a very, very simple calculation that we should make. Yes, we need to be alert to possible complications, but the right decision is for everyone to get vaccinated with whatever vaccine they are able to get, whatever they are offered as quickly as possible. That’s how we get through this pandemic.”
The family of 54-year-old Francine Boyer identified her Tuesday in a statement as the woman who had died.
She and her husband Alain Serres received the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 9, and in the days that followed, she began to experience headaches and severe fatigue.
The statement says Mr. Serres did not develop any side-effects.
Ms. Boyer died of a cerebral thrombosis on April 23.
Quebec public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda told a news conference Tuesday he believes it is the first death in Canada to be potentially linked to the vaccine, and authorities stressed serious side-effects are rare and the vaccine saves far more lives than it endangers.
Mr. Trudeau said Canada has a large range of vaccine doses to count on. AstraZeneca has been produced in the United States but is not being used there so doses are available. Canada has received 1.5 million doses from south of the border, and is seeking more, he said.
Mr. Trudeau played down the idea of Ottawa reallocating vaccines from locations such as Nova Scotia to COVID-19 hotspots, noting the federal government previously agreed on a per-capita distribution strategy among provinces and territories. On one hand, he said he would be willing to consider proposals from the provinces, but added, “The federal government isn’t going to take vaccines away from any jurisdiction to go to another jurisdiction.”
TODAY’S HEADLINES
LTC CARE IN ONTARIO- Ontario’s Auditor-General says long-term care homes were poorly prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Bonnie Lysyk says, in a report released Wednesday, that both the provincial government and the nursing-home sector failed to heed lessons learned from the SARS epidemic.
AIDE DEFENSE - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his top aide, Katie Telford, on Tuesday and said no one in his office was aware that former chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance was facing a “Me Too complaint” in early 2018.
B.C. SICK PAY - British Columbia is creating its own permanent program to provide workers with sick pay as Ottawa and Ontario engage in finger-pointing over whether to enhance a temporary federal benefit meant to keep workers infected with COVID-19 from spreading the disease.
SHARING VACCINES - Canada is still counting on the United States to share its COVID-19 vaccine surplus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday – even as pressure mounts on the White House to help ease a spiralling pandemic crisis in India.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION - A House of Commons committee, in a unanimous report released Tuesday, is calling for coercive and controlling behaviour to be made an offence under the Criminal Code.
CLIMATE RECORD - From Bloomberg Green: Justin Trudeau defends Canada’s climate record against criticism its emissions targets aren’t ambitious enough, arguing his government’s carbon tax represents a more concrete plan.
MANDATORY VOTING?
Federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says he is in a “listening mode” on the idea of making voting mandatory in Canada.
Mr. O’Toole’s comment came Tuesday in response to a report about comments he made earlier this month to an event hosted by the Delta Chamber of Commerce in British Columbia.
According to The Canadian Press, Mr. O’Toole told the chamber of commerce he has been “thinking about and talking about” how Australia requires its citizens to cast a ballot.
Asked Tuesday to elaborate, Mr. O’Toole said, “I am hearing from some people that think mandatory voting would allow citizens to see the importance of the democratic process at a time [when] we see confidence in public institutions from the prime minister’s office to the chief of defense office deteriorating.”
CP noted that Australia is one of the few countries in the world that had made it compulsory to vote at all levels of government or else risk being fined, and voter turnout is relatively high.
An overview document on the issue posted to the website of the Australian Electoral Commission, accessible here notes that turnout at Australian elections has never fallen below 90 per cent since the introduction of compulsory voting in 1924.
Political scientist Nelson Wiseman of the University of Toronto said, in an interview, that the Conservative leader and the party may be throwing out ideas in the search for proposals that will narrow the gap between them and the Liberals.
Nor does Prof. Wiseman think mandatory voting necessary because many voters are not engaged and compulsory voting wouldn’t necessarily make them engaged.
“Some might say` Why do you want people who don’t give a damn about what’s going on in politics, who don’t follow it one iota deciding who is going to be the government?’”
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings. Also, the Prime Minister virtually attends national caucus meeting, and attends Question Period. With Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, he participates in a virtual town hall with youth from across the country.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet holds a news conference on Parliament Hill.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh holds a media availability after NDP’s virtual caucus meeting. He also attends virtual commemorative event organized by the Manitoba Federation of Labour to mark the National Day of Mourning. The NDP leader also attends Question Period and participates virtually in a celebration to mark Sikh Heritage Month in Manitoba.
POLLING
A new Angus Reid Institute poll - details here - finds the new federal budget has not budged voter intention, leaving the parties where they have been for the last month, with the incumbent Liberals maintaining a slight but insignificant lead over the Conservatives.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how the Ontario and federal government can create a paid sick leave program that actually works: “When it comes to the principle of paid sick leave, Ottawa and Ontario are (finally) on the same page. But as of Tuesday afternoon – going on Month 14 of the pandemic – they were still arguing over the details of an emergency program to provide paid days for essential workers who need to take time off to get tested for COVID-19, or who have to isolate because they’ve tested positive, are ill, or have been in contact with someone who is.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the Western Separatist Maverick Party stepping up their fight against Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives: “Last year, the Maverick folks decided they would focus their efforts in 49 ridings where they could run against Conservative candidates without fear the competition would help elect a Liberal or New Democrat – places where Tories win by big, comfortable margins. But now Maverick Leader Jay Hill, a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister, says they’re thinking about changing that strategy, and fighting the Tories in more place across the West, opposing them in ridings where Maverick competition might actually cost the Conservatives seats.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on Alberta as Canada’s other distinct society for its handling of the pandemic: “ In what version of cloud cuckoo land is a picture of a politician getting a vaccine amid a devastating virus outbreak considered brave? That would be Alberta, apparently, where the Premier is facing a caucus revolt and a serious backlash within his United Conservative Party ranks – not for failing to take serious enough action to halt the virus, but for taking measures viewed as too restrictive. (Among those measures are a prohibition on indoor dining, restrictions on gatherings to household members only and a cap on normal occupancy rates for indoor religious services.) Think about that for a minute. If you ever needed evidence that Quebec isn’t the only distinct society in Canada, this may be it.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on the absence of federal budget measures to cool runaway housing markets: “Home ownership might seem a somewhat trivial matter to consider in a pandemic-time budget that is overwhelmingly focused on health care, unemployment and economic recovery. But Canada is headed on a path where the security that comes with owning a home is becoming the domain only of those of a certain level of wealth, which doesn’t make for diverse, equitable or healthy cities, nor does it entice young talent to stay in or move to Canada.”
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Ian Bailey